Teachbook Vows Facebook Trademark Suit Fight

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Teachbook Vows Facebook Trademark Suit Fight

Social-networking upstart Teachbook said Wednesday it would challenge a trademark infringement lawsuit brought by Facebook, which is demanding the teacher-oriented site remove "book" from its name.

"It's a David and Goliath situation," said Greg Shrader, the managing partner of the Northbrook, Illinois-base Teachbook, which has yet to launch. "They're throwing bombs at a mosquito. They believe we're going to roll over and in some respect they get to own the term 'book.'"

Facebook, in a lawsuit Threat Level reported on Tuesday, claims the term "book" cannot be used to name social-networking sites. The Palo Alto-based site claims Teachbook might dilute its famous name or cause confusion over which is the real Facebook.

Facebook doesn't seem to be focused solely on social-networking sites, either. It leveraged its financial weight earlier this month to demand an upstart travel site to rename itself from Placebook.